Browse or Search

Square, Inc., is helping small businesses accept the latest payment methods without breaking their budgets. The upcoming version of the Square Reader will accept Apple Pay and other NFC contactless payment systems, as well as the chipped (EMV) credit/debit cards that U. S. banks are rolling out rapidly.[Continue Reading…]

Crowdfunding – the raising of large amounts of capital by means of small contributions from many people – passed a significant milestone on June 19, 2015, when the SEC’s new Regulation A+ went into effect. Read on to see how Reg A+ may help your business raise equity capital for startup or expansion…[Continue Reading…]

U.S. banks are changing the security features of customers’ credit and debit cards in a long overdue measure to reduce card fraud. Cards will still work the old-fashioned way, but merchants who upgrade their systems to use the new security features will save money. They’ll also avoid the new liabilities for fraudulent charges that will be borne by merchants who don’t upgrade their systems…

Competition is great unless you are one of the competitors. Paypal must be getting rather irritated as Square, Inc., launches new challenges to Paypal’s hegemony on a growing number of fronts. The latest Square encroachment on Paypal’s turf is business financing…

There’s nothing as delightful to the ears of a merchant as the Ka-CHING! of a cash register. And offering multiple online payment methods to your customers is one way to increase the odds they’ll shop with you instead of a competitor. Here are several options you should consider for your online storefront…

John Good owned Bubbles Galore, a successful car wash business in Davison, Michigan. He had good credit and a great idea to add a dog washing service to his business. When the bank said no to a modest $16,000 loan request, Good went looking online for alternative unsecured loan options…

A reader asks: ‘I see people raising money on crowdfunding sites like Kickstarter and Indiegogo. Is this a legitimate way to raise money, and if so, how can I get in on it?’ Get the scoop on crowd funding, and see if it can work to help make your Next Big Thing a reality…

Whether your business is brick-and-mortar, online, or both, you need to accept credit and debit card payments to maximize profits. Today, there are many options for accepting cards face-to-face, over the phone or by mail, on a Web site, or even on a mobile phone or tablet. Some options are offered by traditional banks and payment processors, while others are challengers to the established order. Let’s see how they stack up.

QuickBooks is the most popular small business accounting software. But it’s expensive: $150 to $200 for the desktop Pro version and more if you need advanced functions. Here are some free and cheap alternatives to QuickBooks that may serve the needs of your business equally well…

Everyone agrees that credit and debit card fraud is a huge problem that costs consumers, merchants, and card-issuing banks billions of dollars per year. Making cards more difficult to ‘clone’ is one measure that can cut fraud dramatically. So-called ‘chipped cards’ using embedded microchips are much safer, but do they eliminate all danger? Here is how chipped cards compare to traditional magnetic-stripe cards…